From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Nov 18 2002 - 14:37:17 MST
--- Technotranscendence <neptune@mars.superlink.net> wrote:
> I posted this yesterday morning, but no one responded to it, so I'm
> posting it again:
>
> Do [any of] you believe that the only or important value of a company
> is its technological innovations? (I would use value here to be
> economic value, but it can also mean personal value.)
>
> Your answer to this has important implications for judging Microsoft
> and other IT companies.
THe most important value of a company is its success in maximizing
shareholder value. How, where, and with who it does this are secondary
values. Shareholder value may also mean more than just a dollar return
on investment. If I invest in a company which does things I find
morally reprehensible, I am not getting value no matter how much I
profit financially from it. It was, however, my choice to invest or not
in such a corporation. If I have moral needs that are comparable with
my financial needs, I should make my investment choices based on that
to start with.
Now, there is the problem of stock 'crashers', individuals who buy
stock in a company in order to make a stink at shareholder meetings
about actions of the company. For instance, pinup calendars are
generally a ubiquitous characteristic of garage tool boxes, and tool
companies have historically provided such calendars to mechanics who
buy their products.
A few years ago, however, some militant feminazis bought stock in
companies like Snap-On, Mac Tools, and Matco Tools in order to make a
stink about company produced pinup calendars and posters, claiming that
such products constituted an 'uncomfortable work environment' (i.e. PC
code for "we are gonna file a sexual harassment suit") for female
employees of the companies and of those companies they supply pinups
to. The tool companies stopped producing them or greatly reduced the
amount of exposed skin in them in response to this outcry.
Now, given such harassment by moral puritans of any stripe, whether it
be about music censorship, killing dolphins, etc, isn't this a form of
coercive tyranny by a small minority? The fact is, if you don't like
the actions of a corporations, all you have to do is stop buying their
products, stop investing in them, and your hands are clean. Anything
beyond that is the initiation of force.
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